BIG PROBLEM w/ the 302...Gotta start all over again...

Well, the 302 ran great, till I heard a loud clunk and saw smoke and steam coming out of the oil breather... Yep, what I had feared became a reality... I think I accidentally dropped a carb nut into the intake...which I think snapped the intake valve for the #4 cylinder. I didn't know for sure if the nut fell in or not so I tried to fish it out with a magnet and I didn't get anything. So I thought it was okay. Now I'm back to square 1... So now, I'm planning on going all out with this motor next Spring:

New Valves (and get them seated), new seals, new cam (if not damaged), new pistons, new or reworked crankshaft, new rings, new pushrods, possibly new lifters, and get the cylinders bored .030 over. Anything else I overlooked?

When I built this motor, I never touched the heads or the pistons, or even the crank and main bearings. Motor ran good from donor vehicle, so I figured Why spend the extra money?? I think the Good Lord is telling me it was a bad idea to cheapen out on the motor. At least I know how everything works now. I also know the motor runs and how to take it out and install the engine. That's about the only good news I have.

In some strange way, I feel better now. I think it's b/c I have a new plan, and that the motor would be better off rebuilt than just reworked. Thanks anyway guys for your help. Good luck to all of you (hope it's better luck than mine), Take care, be safe, and make sure you take the extra time to make sure it's right from the start!! I learned my lesson and DO NOT plan on making that same mistake again, as it is going to be costly...

Thanks again,

 

Dam!
And we just got you straightened out!

Sorry to hear that.

 

Sorry to hear that dude...
It sucks to do all that work and have it go out like that.

Yank it out, open it up and see what is going on. It may not be as bad as you think...

 

i was in my back bedroom (where i store my mav. parts) looking for..
77 Komet...a door glass when my cell phone rang.
it was Andrew, with his blown 302...we talked for a while and it seems to be a valve problem( stuck/broken). he is going to pull that head and go from there.
good luck :Handshake

...Frank

 

If he's real lucky, the nut will emerge out the tailpipe and the ruckus was just because it was passing through.
I know that is wishfull thinking, but there is a decent chance of that happening. The only way it will stick around in there to cause major damage would be if it got between the cylinder wall and piston.

 

"saw smoke and steam coming out of the oil breather."
"water in oil."
i think the nut made the valve do it...

...:sorry:

 

Kinda difficult for something like a steel nut to go up through the exhaust valve. I had a small piece of aluminum go down in a cylinder once (don't ask ). It just cleaned off the carbon from the piston top. Sounded like someone poured a bunch of BBs in the engine. A steel nut, though... probably damged the intake valve, and if they are cast pistons...

 

So this means there is not supposed to be coming anything out of the oilbreather cap or am I just stupid as they say, mine is always spitting something out...

 

Blow-by comes out. Especially with no PCV like my 302

THe steam is the interesting part. That is a no-no.

 

Thank you... Was getting worried there for a while!!!

 

well, the good thing is now you'll know what is inside the new engine. go with all good parts and feel confident that it will run good and last a while.

 

breckan don't feel bad I had 6500.00 in my engine and my went up in flames figuretively speaking so I knowyour plight and feel your true heartache I still have not recovered from it yet. I still have the heads and rotatign assem and all the other parts. I had the block redone

 

I do have some good news for y'all... I took the intake out and found little pieces of the nut, but boy were they microscopic! Anyway, also found a small piece of aluminum from the intake. However, it was nowhere near a water jacket. So that rules out the intake being the problem.

Also, I pulled the head from the side that was making the noise (passenger side)... Lo & Behold, there was no serious damage done to the pistons or the cylinder walls. Only bit of damage I saw was a couple tiny chunks out of the top of the piston. (biggest was about 1/8" wide, and about 3/32" deep) The others were just scuff marks. It is not serious and believe the cause of the smoke was a blown head gasket, leaking radiator fluid into the cylinder, and also causing the water and smoke in the oil. The head gasket is original to the motor, so it seems conclusive that it is the head gasket(s).

I plan on taking the valves out, checking them for any more damage, replacing as necessary, re-seating them, and reassemble the engine w/ new head gaskets. I feel much better now, however, I still want to pull the other head to see if there's any damage there. Boy, I sure hope not!!

Anyway, so far, everything seems to point to head gaskets. Hopefully, nothing more is damaged and I won't have to pull the motor again!!

Thanks guys for your concern, I'll keep you posted!

 

That's great news
Congrats. The motor gods smiled on you

 

Is there any way a camshaft can be damaged if the nut got stuck in the valve? It wasn't in the valve when I removed the head, but could the camshaft be damaged? The reason I ask is the intake lifter for the #4 cylinder seems pretty far down the sleeve. Also, before I removed the head, I noticed that rocker arm for the same valve was awfully loose.

EDIT: Also, the rocker arm for the intake valve on #8 (which is directly across) seems mildly loose also.